Ahead of the July 1 special election for the San Diego County District 1 supervisor, seven voting centers will be open starting Saturday, the county said.
According to a news release, vote centers will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through June 30. The locations are:
— Bonita Vista Middle School cafeteria, 650 Otay Lakes Road in Chula Vista;
— Chula Vista City Hall, 276 4th Ave.;
— MAAC Community Center, 1387 3rd Ave.;
— South Bay Union School District Education Center (Burress Auditorium), 601 Elm Ave. in Imperial Beach;
— Mountain View Community Center (back meeting room), 641 S Boundary St. in San Diego;
— San Ysidro Senior Center, 125 E Park Ave. in the San Ysidro neighborhood; and
— Spring Valley Community Center (Olsen Room), 8735 Jamacha Blvd.
On the final day of voting (July 1), the county will open six more vote centers, operating from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The election between Chula Vista Mayor John McCann and Imperial Beach Mayor Paloma Aguirre will choose a replacement for former Supervisor Nora Vargas.
Vargas announced in late December that she would not serve her second term despite winning re-election in November.
McCann and Aguirre were the top two vote-getters in an April runoff, securing 43.5% and 31.6% of the vote, respectively, with five other candidates splitting the remainder.
The winner will serve the remainder of the current term, ending in January 2029.
With a population of 650,000, District 1 contains three cities — Chula Vista, Imperial Beach and National City — along with 15 neighborhoods in San Diego, including East Village, Mountain View and San Ysidro, and six unincorporated communities, including Bonita, East Otay Mesa and a portion of Spring Valley.
Vote centers can provide other services, including:
— voting in person or dropping off a mail-in ballot;
— voting with an accessible ballot-marking device;
— assistance and voting materials in multiple languages; and
— registering to vote or updating registration to vote on the same day.
According to the county, a ballot-marking device allows voters to use a touch screen to make their selection, print the official ballot, review and put it in a secrecy sleeve, and hand it to a poll worker.
The poll worker then inserts the ballot into a box, where it will be counted at the Registrar's office.
"The ballot marking device does not store, tabulate or count any votes," officials said.
The San Diego County Registrar of Voters in May mailed more than 370,000 ballots to registered voters in District 1.
According to the county, "campaigning or electioneering within 100 feet of a vote center or official ballot drop box is not allowed," including visible or audio displays.
"Additionally, an individual may not circulate any petitions, including those for initiatives, referenda, recall or candidate nominations," the county added.
The Registrar's official ballot drop boxes are accessible 24 hours a day, up until 8 p.m. on July 1. District 1 locations are at https://www.sdvote.com/content/rov/en/elections/ballot-drop-box-locations.html.
